RSS
Nobody Wants This, Except the Audience — A Jewish Perspective on Netflix’s Latest Hit
Small toy figures are seen in front of displayed Netflix logo in this illustration taken March 19, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration.
Netflix’s new series, Nobody Wants This, has captured global attention with its unique premise: a romance between Rabbi Noah Rocklov (Adam Brody) and Joanne (Kristen Bell), an agnostic sex podcast host. Created by Erin Foster, herself a Jewish convert, the show follows their unlikely connection despite their vastly different backgrounds.
The show’s popularity transcends cultural boundaries, ranking first on Netflix in many Muslim countries including Lebanon (currently at war with Israel), Turkey, and the UAE. It holds strong positions in Bahrain (2nd), Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, as well as Qatar (3rd), Morocco (4th), and Saudi Arabia and Oman (5th). It also tops charts in Israel, the United States, Canada, Iceland, Nigeria, Ukraine, Germany, and numerous other countries.
While some critics have suggested that the show contains antisemitic elements, particularly in its portrayal of Jewish women, this criticism doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Rabbi Lexi Erdheim, a Reform Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, NC, acknowledges some “tired tropes,” but maintains that “the depictions are not egregious enough that it would make me turn off the show. There is enough humanization of Jewish characters, and the show grapples with questions and shares a lot of richness about Judaism that I can see past the tropes.”
Screen Rant writer Dani Kessle Odom points out that even Esther (Jackie Thon), who the show’s writers demonize as the main antagonist to Joanne, is shown as a supportive wife, caring mother, and loyal friend, demonstrating the show’s nuanced character portrayal of even the most antagonistic of the Jewish women.
The show’s relationship with Judaism is notably well-informed, with former Wilshire Boulevard Temple Senior Rabbi Steve Leder serving as rabbinical consultant. The series deliberately maintains ambiguity about Noah’s specific Jewish denomination, featuring Conservative prayer books in the Temple, while showing practices more aligned with Reform Judaism.
The show portrays several concepts that are central to Judaism and Jewish practice, and it does so in a touching and positive manner, making it more an expression of philosemitism than antisemitism.
Noah is described as being a truly good person. We see time and again, that Noah is kind, considerate, and endearing, often caring about others far more than himself, which makes him the positive foil to the self-centered tropes of the majority of the other characters (both Jewish and non-Jewish alike). To him, the position of a community Rabbi, regardless of which denomination of Judaism he comes from, means serving the community and working to help others achieve their own spiritual goals and guide them to a more fulfilled life.
As the show progresses and Noah gets caught up in his own ambition and dream to become the head rabbi of his congregation, It is surprisingly Joanne, his non-Jewish love interest, who teaches him about being honest with one’s self as well as others. This becomes a turning point, where Noah recognizes that she can help him become a better rabbi, a better person, and help people, something which he views as one of the highest ideals and which ultimately brings him closer to her.
The interfaith issue:
Interfaith marriage in Judaism carries varying degrees of taboo, with Orthodox communities potentially shunning or excommunicating those who intermarry, sometimes extending consequences to their families. While Conservative Judaism is less strict, most of its rabbis won’t perform interfaith ceremonies. Reform and Reconstructionist movements are more lenient, though traditionally their rabbis have avoided officiating interfaith marriages. A significant shift occurred when the Reform rabbinical school Hebrew Union College announced in June 2024 that rabbinical students in interfaith relationships could study for ordination, provided they commit to maintaining Jewish households.
As Rabbi Erdheim noted, “If one spouse is a rabbi then you would expect the household to be Jewish. If you’ve chosen to dedicate your personal and professional life to leading the Jewish people, then you would have a Jewish home.” However, clergy are still held to stricter standards than congregants, and in many communities, it is still taboo for a rabbi to be in an interfaith relationship — a central tension that drives the show’s plot.
The pork issue:
Orthodox Jews strictly avoid pork as non-kosher. For further elucidation on this please see this article: Reform Jews generally disregard kosher laws — except for the clergy. Rabbi Erdheim added, “It’s a complex question and the Reform community runs the gamut of kashrut observance from observing the laws, to not observing them.”
The wine issue:
In the first episode, Noah insists on opening Joanne’s wine bottle despite her offers to help — a scene that appears to showcase his chivalry but inadvertently touches on a deeper Jewish law. Orthodox Jews won’t drink uncooked wine touched or poured by non-Jews. This is a 1,800-year-old rule stemming from concerns about wine used in idol worship called [Stam Yainam]. Though Joanne is merely agnostic, Noah deftly navigates the potentially awkward moment with self-deprecating charm. As Rabbi Erdheim notes, while Reform rabbis are aware of this law, most don’t observe it: “I would be shocked to encounter a Reform rabbi who has a problem if a non-Jew poured them wine nowadays.”
Wrestling with God:
Again in the first episode, Noah tells Joanne that “baked into the Jewish experience is the concept of wrestling with what God is or isn’t and not knowing.” This is a long-standing concept in Judaism dating back to the term Israel itself, which comes from Genesis 32:28, where an Angel gives Jacob the name Yisrael because he struggled [sarita] with God [‘elohim] and with humans and has prevailed.” Since then, Jews have always struggled with the concept of what God is or isn’t and how best to worship God leading to a multiplicity of views, understandings, arguments, and acceptance of living in a state of uncertainty.
Shabbat Candles:
The concept of lighting candles at the beginning of Shabbat can be dated back to the end of the Second Temple. In Episode 5, Noah explains to Joanne that there are different interpretations of the two-candle custom. While commonly representing either the dual commandments “keep” (Shamor) and “remember” (Zachor) the Shabbat, or representing both spouses, Noah shares a lesser-known meaning: the candles symbolize the two destroyed Temples, suggesting Shabbat’s eternal nature transcends physical structures. This interpretation, cited by Rabbi Efraim Palvanov, traces back to the 13th-century Baal Haturim (Rabbi Jacob Ben Asher), who connects the Shabbat candles to the Temples’ eternal light (Ner Hatamid) and that continuing to light Shabbat candles carries on the concept of the eternal light from the Temples. Interestingly enough, this is something that I, a practicing Jew my entire life, was unaware of and only learned after investigating the statement that Noah made in the show.
Judaism is a unified nuanced religion
Judaism is a nuanced religion, with a lot of people who are uninformed about those nuances, how many streams of Judaism there are, and how each one tries to keep the beauty of the religion in the modern world. Even in Orthodoxy, there are hundreds of different styles and permutations of customs, communities, and identifying factors. What unifies us, is that we all strive to find the value of our voice and purpose within the religion, to continue to pass on the gifts and wisdom that we were given in our heritage, and use them to build a better world for our children and be a light unto the nations. There are also some external aspects that unify us, among them in a negative context is antisemitism, which affects all Jews regardless of their belief or with which segment of Judaism they identify.
It is certainly a struggle, and often the message of Jewish wisdom gets diluted, confused, or scorned by those we wish would receive it. Yet the struggle continues. In the words of one of my former mentors Rabbi Nathan Lopez Cardozo, the concept of Jewish faith is to struggle with Judaism and with God, and learn to live with that continuous struggle while constantly striving to improve upon the world.
I believe that this is a concept that the show embodies as well, in its context, while sharing some of the beauty of Jewish culture, heritage, wisdom, and messages to the world, so that we can continue to engage with each other, be kind and honest people, and continue to grow while helping others around us grow and be better as well. This is indeed a far cry from being antisemitic, which some have erroneously claimed the show to be.
Raphael Poch is a religious Orthodox Jewish husband and father. He works as the Senior Manager of PR for Aish and moonlights as a journalist, improviser, and theater aficionado. He currently lives with his family in Efrat, Israel.
The post Nobody Wants This, Except the Audience — A Jewish Perspective on Netflix’s Latest Hit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Bryan Singer Secretly Filmed Period Drama With Jon Voight Critical of Israel for Lebanon War: Report
Jon Voight at the opening night of the 2023 Beverly Hills Film Festival held at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood, California, on April 19, 2023. Photo: FS//AdMedia/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Jewish-American filmmaker Bryan Singer has returned to the director’s chair after a long hiatus with a film starring Oscar winner Jon Voight that is set in the Middle East and critical of Israel, Variety revealed on Wednesday.
Singer secretly filmed the period drama and one source who saw the final cut, but is not involved with the production, thinks the feature is “going to be a huge hotbed of controversy” because of its attention on the Middle East. “It makes Israel look really bad and could be polarizing,” the insider told Variety.
The source said the film is set in late 1970s or early 1980s. On June 6, 1982, Israel launched the First Lebanon War against Palestinian terrorists based in southern Lebanon following the attempted assassination of Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom Shlomo Argov by a terrorist cell.
The “Superman Returns” director shot the new film in Greece in 2023, and it focuses on the relationship between a father and son, Variety added. Israeli filmmaker Yariv Horovoitz is also reportedly collaborating on the project. There are no details about a release date.
Voight is a longtime supporter of Israel and said in 2018 that he feels an obligation to combat antisemitism. Last year, he was critical of his daughter, actress and filmmaker Angelina Jolie, when she slammed Israel’s defensive military campaign against Hamas in Gaza following the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Singer – who was raised Jewish in suburban New Jersey – has not directed in mainstream Hollywood since he was infamously fired by 20th Century Fox from “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 2017 and replaced during shooting, after several absences during the film’s production. He was signed on to direct a remake of the action film “Red Sonja,” but was reportedly fired from the project amid allegations in 2019 of sexual misconduct involving minors, which he denied.
The director’s past credits include four films in the “X-Men” franchise, “Valkyrie,” and the Oscar-winning film “The Usual Suspects.”
Singer faced sexual misconduct allegations starting in 1997, when two teenage boys claimed the director ordered them to strip naked for a scene in his film “Apt Pupil.” The filmmaker has never faced criminal charges for the sexual misconduct allegations made against him in 1997 or in later years.
Singer has been living in Israel for several years and Variety reported in 2023 that he was looking to make a comeback into the mainstream Hollywood film industry with features set in and around Israel.
RSS
Italian Law Professor Faces Backlash Over Viral Antisemitic Social Media Posts
An Italian law professor is facing mounting backlash after past antisemitic social media posts went viral, sparking outrage among the local Jewish community and public officials.
Professor Luca Nivarra, who teaches in the Faculty of Law at the University of Palermo in Sicily, has come under scrutiny after several of his social media posts went viral, spreading antisemitic and hateful content.
“I don’t want to meddle in matters that don’t concern me directly, but, having very few tools at our disposal to oppose the Palestinian Holocaust, a signal, however modest, could be to unfriend your Jewish ‘friends’ on Facebook, even the ‘good’ ones, who declare themselves disgusted by what the Israeli government and the IDF are doing,” Nivarra wrote in one of his posts.
“They lie, and with their lies, they help cover up the horror: it’s a small, tiny thing, but let’s start making them feel alone, face to face with the monstrosity to which they are complicit,” he continued.
On Tuesday, the university issued a public statement distancing itself from Nivarra’s antisemitic remarks. Despite mounting public outrage, Nivarra has not faced any disciplinary action yet.
Massimo Midiri, Dean of the University of Palermo, condemned such hateful rhetoric, calling it “a personal and culturally dangerous initiative, far removed from our academic principles.”
“Nivarra’s statements risk fueling the very dynamics he claims to oppose. Complex issues like the Middle East conflict require dialogue and critical engagement, not exclusion or ideological censorship,” Midiri said in a statement.
Italy’s Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, also denounced Nivarra’s remarks, saying they “not only offend the Jewish people but also all who uphold the values of respect and civil coexistence.”
“Conflicts are overcome through dialogue, not isolation and it is only through this path that an authentic journey toward peace can be built, an objective to which Italy and the international community continue to dedicate their efforts,” the Italian diplomat wrote in a post on X.
This is not the first time Nivarra has made public antisemitic statements and spread anti-Jewish hateful rhetoric. In his previous Facebook posts, he also wrote that “there are no good Israelis” and that “Israeli society is morally rotten.”
Nivarra also compared the Israeli Defense Forces’ defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas to the actions of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann during the Holocaust.
“The only difference between Adolf Eichmann and the IDF is that Eichmann defended himself by saying he was following orders, while Israeli soldiers happily do what they do,” he wrote in another social media post.
Since his posts went viral, Nivarra has faced mounting criticism on social media, but he has denied any accusations of antisemitism.
“You can call me an anti-Semite when I am not one at all. There is an insurmountable distance between me and the perpetrators of these horrors,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
RSS
‘Six Million Not Enough’: Minneapolis School Shooter Scrawled Antisemitic, Anti-Israel Messages on Guns
Law enforcement officers set up barriers after a shooting at Annunciation Church, which is also home to an elementary school, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ben Brewer
The lone suspect in Wednesday’s mass shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, scrawled antisemitic and anti-Israel messages across his weapons and allegedly shared his desire to kill “filthy Zionist Jews” in a notebook before unleashing a barrage of gunfire on students and parishioners.
Law enforcement officials identified the shooter as Robin Westman, 23, who died by suicide at the scene. According to police, Westman opened fire during morning Mass in the school’s adjoining church, killing two children (aged 8 and 10) and injuring 17 others.
Witnesses said the church erupted in chaos as stained-glass windows shattered and gunfire ripped through pews filled with children. Teachers and staff rushed to shield students, with some ushering them outside the building.
The shooting is being investigated as both a domestic terrorism case and a hate crime against Catholics, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
However, the assailant also appeared to endorse antisemitic conspiracies and express a desire to kill Jews and Israelis.
Researchers at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported they found videos believed to be from Westman showing firearms and ammunition magazines marked with the antisemitic messages. Investigators are also reviewing the now-deleted YouTube channel allegedly linked to Westman that featured disturbing videos uploaded before the attack.
“Israel must fall and “Burn Israel” were among the writings on the weapons, as seen in the video. In addition, the messages on the guns included “6 million wasn’t enough” — an apparent reference to the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust, and “Burn HIAS” — an apparent reference to a Jewish organization which helps settle refugees.
Westman also allegedly wrote “kill Donald Trump” on a gun magazine as well as anti-black and anti-Latino racist messaging.
The videos also included images of a notebook with writing in the Cyrillic alphabet.
“If I will carry out a racially motivated attack, it would be most likely against filthy Zionist jews,” the notebook said, according to a translation by the New York Post. Westman also allegedly wrote slogans such as “Free Palestine.”
Images of the content has been widely circulated on social media.
Robin Westman, the suspected shooter in today’s mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, appears to have had a YouTube Channel named “Robin W” which has since been deleted, that contained several video consisting of guns, a manifesto… pic.twitter.com/B3JJUOIGJp
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 27, 2025
Shocking antisemitic messages spotted on the Minneapolis shooter’s gun including:
– “Israel must fall,”
– “Burn Israel”
– “6 million wasn’t enough.”
– “ Burn HIAS (originally a Jewish resettlement org for refugees)Via our colleague @RealSaavedra pic.twitter.com/NFUnkRNlDs
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 27, 2025
An analysis of the shooter’s apparent manifesto by the ADL found no singular political motive. The assailant “scrawled numerous references and symbols on their weapons linked to a broad range of mass attackers, mimicking the 2019 Christchurch, 2022 Buffalo, and 2025 Antioch shooters, among others, who marked their weapons before launching their attacks,” the ADL wrote.
“The references found on the attacker’s weapons do not suggest a deep knowledge of white supremacy. Instead, the references point to a broader fixation on mass violence,” the group concluded.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who is Jewish, spoke with raw emotion after visiting the scene. “There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act,” he said.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the students “were met with evil and horror and death.”
“We often come to these and say these unspeakable tragedies or there’s no words for this. There shouldn’t be words for these types of incidents because they should not happen and there’s no words that are going to ease the pain of the families today,” Walz added.
The suspect was reportedly a transgender woman who changed her name from Robert to Robin in 2020. Westman’s mother worked as a secretary at Annunciation until 2021, according to news reports, and authorities are still examining whether that connection influenced the target.
The tragedy adds to a growing list of school and faith-based shootings in the United States this year. Experts warn that antisemitic conspiracy theories, spread widely online, can inspire such violent attacks.
The tragedy came a week after the ADL released a new report highlighting how extremist online spaces are fueling not only school shootings but also a broader rise in antisemitism across the US. According to the report, many websites containing violent and gruesome material have pulled young people into white supremacist propaganda and conspiracy theories, inspiring them to commit deadly attacks.